Is he..cute?

Mallory

Saturday's are the worst.

Serena was always busy helping Casey with god knows what and Eden was at the farmers markets with her parents and Zach.

That's what sucked when you only have two friends who aren't your family members.

Sure I love my cousins but I wanted to spend time with my friends that aren't related to me.

I always had no other choice but to follow Da and AJ along to the garage. Maybe I could do a bit of ogling of da's staff. Some of them were proper fit.

I wasn't even joking—some of the lads Da had working for him were ridiculously fit. Not that I'd ever actually do anything about it. Most of them were older, and I wasn't about to be that girl who flirts with mechanics just because she's bored on a Saturday. But still, a little harmless looking never hurt anyone.

At least, that's what I thought—until my eyes landed on Kian.

I hadn't meant to look at him. In fact, I'd done my best to avoid looking at him at all since he started working here. But now, as he stood near one of the lifts, wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm, I found myself staring.

His t-shirt clung to him slightly from the heat of the garage, and I could see the lean muscle underneath. His dark hair was messy, a little damp from the effort he'd been putting in. He had that look about him—rough around the edges, a little too sharp, a little too reckless. But there was something about him that made it impossible to look away.

I quickly turned my head before anyone could catch me staring, my heart racing for reasons I didn't even want to acknowledge.

No. Absolutely not.

I wasn't about to start thinking Kian Holland was attractive. That was ridiculous. He was trouble, through and through. I didn't care that he was trying to sort himself out, that he'd taken this job instead of running around making dodgy deals. It didn't matter.

And yet...

I stole another glance when I was sure no one was looking.

I hated that he was attractive. I hated that I was noticing it.

Because now, I wasn't just bored on a Saturday. Now, I had an entirely different problem.

I sat on the old battered couch in the corner of the garage, pretending to be on my phone while definitely not watching Kian.

He was working under the hood of one of the cars, sleeves pushed up, brows furrowed in concentration. I had no business looking, but my eyes kept dragging back to him anyway.

"Mallory," his voice cut through my thoughts, and I jolted upright, gripping my phone tighter.

"What?" I asked, a little too sharply, like I'd been caught doing something I shouldn't.

Kian shot me an amused glance, nodding toward the tool chest beside me. "Pass me a wrench, will ya?"

I hesitated. Not because I didn't want to—just because I didn't like the idea of doing anything remotely helpful for him. But I sighed, pushing myself off the couch and walking over to the chest.

"There's about fifty different wrenches in here," I muttered, scanning the neatly arranged tools.

"Fourteen-millimeter," he said, leaning his arms on the edge of the car.

I rolled my eyes but picked one up and held it out to him.

He took it, but instead of going straight back to work, he smirked slightly. "What? No sarcastic comment?"

"Don't get used to it," I shot back, crossing my arms.

He chuckled, shaking his head as he turned back to the car. "Didn't plan on it."

I stood there for a second longer than necessary before forcing myself to walk back to the couch. My heart was beating faster than it should've been, and I hated it.

This was ridiculous.

I wasn't supposed to be noticing things about him. Like the way his voice sounded rougher when he was focused, or how his forearms flexed when he worked.

Nope. Not happening.

I sunk back into the couch and picked up my phone again, determined not to look at him for the rest of the day.

...Or at least, that was the plan.

Kian flirting was not something I had ever considered as a possibility. Not in any real way.

But from the moment I handed him that wrench, it was like he had made it his mission to get under my skin.

"Y'know, if you're gonna sit there staring at me all day, you might as well make yourself useful," he said at one point, wiping the grease from his hands with a rag.

I scoffed. "You wish I was staring at you."

He grinned. "I know you were."

I rolled my eyes and refused to dignify him with an answer.

Later, when I passed by the workbench, he brushed past me just a little too close, flashing me a smirk when I shot him a look.

"Relax, princess," he teased. "Didn't mean to get your heart racing."

"It's not," I said flatly, turning away before he could see the heat creeping up my neck.

Even AJ had noticed. At one point, he glanced between the two of us and scowled, muttering something under his breath before stalking off.

Da hadn't said anything, but I caught him watching a couple of times. Not in a warning way, just... observing.

By the time lunch rolled around, I was convinced Kian was doing it just to get a rise out of me.

"You're awfully quiet over there," he said, sitting across from me at the tiny break table.

"I have nothing to say to you."

He smirked. "That's a first."

I glared at him over my sandwich. "Don't you have an engine to fix or something?"

"Not on my lunch break." He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, watching me with that same lazy amusement. "Besides, I'm enjoying the company."

I huffed. "I'm not company. I'm just... here."

He tilted his head. "Yeah? And here I thought you were finally warming up to me."

I didn't dignify that with an answer.

But later, when he caught my eye from across the garage and sent me a wink, I knew I was in trouble.